Less than a week after George Mason University announced it would rename its law school after the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the school announced Tuesday it was changing the proposed name after the acronym for the title was criticized.
"The name initially announced — the Antonin Scalia School of Law [ASSOL] — has caused some acronym controversy on social media. The Antonin Scalia Law School is a logical substitute. We anticipate the naming will be effective on July 1, 2016, pending final approval by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia," GMU Law School Dean Henry N. Butler wrote in an email Tuesday.
The school's Board of Visitors had decided last month to rename the law school in recognition of two major gifts the school received following Scalia's unexpected Feb. 13 death. The Charles Koch Foundation pitched in $10 million and an anonymous donor gave $20 million, making the gifts the largest ones the school has received since its 1979 opening.
But following the announcement of the name change, a Twitter user set up an account calling attention to the provocative acronym. It received attention from the media and students, prompting the administration to amend the title out of respect for Scalia, who spoke at the law school's dedication ceremony in 1999.
The school has established three new scholarship programs to benefit future students who will study law there.